The present invention relates to a method for producing a knitted article on a flat knitting machine with a carriage with at least one cam system which controls the movements of the needles in correspondence with a pattern program for the knitted article to be produced.
In modern high efficiency flat knitting machines the cam systems which control the needle movements are designed so that the control of the needle no longer limits the maximum possible carriage speed. The carriage speed is limited by the processed knitting threads which can tear off when the forces applied to the needles are too high. Also, the acceleration backing performed by a knitting thread when the associated thread guide is moved through the moving carriage with high speed can lead to a tearing off of the knitting thread. This acceleration backing acts first of all on the knitted article edges, and with certain knitting patterns for example intarsia can occur also inside a knitting row. The knitted articles mainly produced on a flat knitting machine are patterned so that in each knitting row individual needle groups form different structures. For example, in one row stitches and/or tuck loops are formed, stitches and tuck loops in one section are accumulated, floats are inserted, stitches on the same needle bed are laterally displaced or transferred from one needle bed to the opposite needle bed. Depending on what function is performed by the needles, the knitting needles also experience different forces at different locations within a knitting row. For providing a fault-free production on the flat knitting machine, the carriage is moved with such a speed which is permissible so that the knitting thread at the critical location of the knitting row or in other words at the location at which the needles apply the greatest force to the knitting threads, do not tear off. When only a few critical locations inside a knitting row are available, great regions of the knitting product are produced with a carriage speed which is unnecessary low for these regions.